INTERPAL Leader Meets With Hamas Prime Minister

A Union of Good website has reported that the Managing Trustee of the U.K. charity INTERPAL has met with the Hamas Prime Minister of Gaza in connection with a land convoy to Gaza. According to the report:

Dr. Issam Mustafa, the general coordinator of “Miles of Smiles 3” convoy said that very soon we will see Gaza siege lifted, noting that “ It is our right access to Gaza by sea and by air , and we will do this in every way possible ”. Dr.Mustafa, while meeting with Palestinian Prime Minister of Gaza Ismail Haniyeh yesterday afternoon , added “ We are pledged to Gaza and Palestine, and no one will stop us from reaching our country” noting that Miles of Smiles came to Gaza to draw smiles on faces of its children. He also stressed that the willing of solidarity activists with Gaza is stronger than the Israeli occupation’s willing, and this will break the imposed siege for more than four years, pointing that the convoy brought different medical assistance from Turkey. “ Miles of Smiles brought baby milk for Gaza children, and a quantity of ten medicines , through close and integrated coordination with the ministry of health, after the depletion of these medicines from Gaza warehouses and hospitals, noting that the cost of these medicines amounted to half million dollars. Mr.Haniyeh , while receiving the members of the convoy, added that convoys of breaking Gaza siege are strongly contributing in unveiling the ugly face of the occupation, in addition of unmasking the Israeli propaganda to world’s community about opening the crossings with Gaza. He also hailed the role played by these humanitarian convoys in boosting the morale of the Palestinians in facing the different challenges of the occupation and its offensives ,as well as in strengthen their willing in establishing their independent state and their right of return to their home. Mr.Haniyeh pointed out that Gaza Strip has the honor to receive the convoy of Miles of Smiles for the third consecutive time, noting that the name given to the convoy has become a part of the Palestinian culture components. He concluded by saying that “ these convoys prove that the Palestinian people in Gaza is not alone” while expressing appreciation to the elite of men and women coming with the convoy to support the Palestinian cause.

According to a NEFA Foundation report, INTERPAL is perhaps the most important of the charities comprising the Union of Good, a coalition of charities headed by Global Muslim Brotherhood leader Youssef Qaradawi which helps to raise funds for Hamas. The Union of Good was banned by Israel in 2002 and was recently designated a terrorist entity by the United State. INTERPAL itself had been designated by the US in 2003.Previous posts have discussed the UK Chairty Commisison’s order that INTERPAL sever its ties with the Union of Good, likely only a formality given that Essam Mustafa, the former head of the Union of Good is still the Managing Trustee of Interpal. The U.S. has attempted to persuade the U.K. government to do something about INTERPAL but the U.K. appears reluctant to anything which in their view would further antagonize its Muslim population.